Oceans Apart
by neko-rinchan
Summary: Another SchwarzOC fic, this about what measures a person will go to reclaim the treasures he has lost and what ripples one act thirteen years in the past cause on not only the future, but also the people living in it. A fic exploring Crawford's family and
1. Prologue

Ahh... Another Schwarz/OC fic, this about what measures a person will go to reclaim the treasures he has lost. Starts at the end of season one and turns AU from there. Read and enjoy, and possibly review. Rated R for yaoi-goodness and other fun stuff.

"Blah" – speech

"_Blah" – _speech in language other than Japanese, will be noted (hopefully)

/Blah/ - telepathy

Oceans Apart 

It may not have been a dark and stormy night, actually, when he set out it was barely nearing late afternoon and the sun was still burning brilliantly in the sky. But as he was slowly making his way through the underground cavern, Oce could barely stop a shudder from running up his spine.

Making a slight face, he shook out his arms slightly. "Okay, that was slightly weird... " He muttered to himself to break the potent silence. "The creep factor was at zero when I started out, and other than all the rotting skeletons, why am I getting soo... creeped out? I have come across a lot worse..."

Shaking his head, Oce ventured further into the damp darkness. Humming softly to himself to break the oppressive atmosphere, he stopped at the end of the passageway. Cracking his knuckles, he shook out his hands and arms and then stood still in front of the door.

Closing his eyes, he opened up his mind and sank deep into it, looking for the switch that was hidden all the way at the bottom. Seeing the switch in his mind, he flicked it on, activating that weird little power of his that he had since before he could remember. The power activated, Oce clenched his fists, and felt the power course through his veins, then brought his hands to rest upon the stonewall. Pressing forwards, his hands began sinking through the wall, to be followed by his arms and then the rest of his body.

Fully through the wall on the other side, Oce clenched his hands once again, causing his power to recede back to that place in his mind. Waving a hand in front of his nose at the gods-awful smell of stagnant air, and practically asphyxiating at the pungent fumes, Oce quickly placed a breathing apparatus in his mouth.

Sighing mentally at the stale taste of the bottled oxygen, really, very pleased that he had it for once, Oce began exploring the sealed room, looking for the artifact that he was sent to find... and any other sparklies that he may want to grab on his way out. May as well, he _did_ come all the way out here, after all. No reason to let it rot until judgment day.

Turning his flashlight on the object on the pedestal, Oce waved his fisted hands slightly and squealed in excitement. His eyes lighting up and glowing slightly in an unnatural manner, he held the object in his hands.

The fabled Maiden's Tears! The legends were long forgotten, but he knew that over three thousands years ago that a beautiful shaman princess lost her beloved in a brutal battle. Showing her sorrow, she cried for one thousand days, her tears crystallizing into an orb. As her tears flowed from her eyes, so did her powers, as her "essence" was contained in her tears. At nightfall on the thousandth day, a portal opened before her to the underworld; she cried herself to death. Her spirit took the orb containing her powers and she ventured forth into the underworld to find her lost love. She found him, and using the orb containing the essence of her shamanic powers, she was able to barter for the spirit of her lost love. After freeing him from the God of Destruction, they both rose into the heavens and that is where their spirits have lived to this day.

Safely tucking the ball into his treasure sack, Oce continued his musings as he continued looking through the cave. Over the years, the orb of shamanic powers managed to make its way back to the middle world, where thousands of men had lost their lives trying to claim its power for themselves. As time passed, the legends became distorted, and the orb of shamanistic powers that has the ability to bring souls back from the dead, turned into an eternal river of invincibility that spanned the heavens.

Grabbing the basically worthless chalice that was his reason for coming down to the forgotten ruins of this holy temple, Oce dropped it rather carelessly into another bag. Shaking his head slightly, he mused over how silly some people could get just because some hundreds-years old saint happened to drink some wine out of it... It's not like the chalice had any _real_ power, or else he would have sensed it. Whenever real magick is used, or you come across a magickal artifact, the magicks leave a metallic taste on the back of the tongue and causes a slight stinging sensation at the back of the lower teeth.

Shrugging, Oce surveyed the last of the sealed room. Nothing else of real value was left, and his bags were too full to carry anything else. Turning back to the stonewall, Oce called up his power again and phased back through. Taking the breathing apparatus out of his mouth, he dropped it into the bag holding the chalice, and slowly began walking out of the cavern.

After several minutes of walking, he heard a strange rumbling sound reverberating all through out the cavern. Frowning, he stopped and looked up. "It almost sounds like something is crumbling..." Oce's eyes widened and he cursed. Seeing the cracks form along the ceiling and walls, he called out his power once more and began sprinting towards the exit.

When he got to the tidal pool that drains in from the ocean, Oce dived into the salty seawater and began swimming as fast as he could. Swimming so low that his belly was scraping along the cavern floor, Oce dove down a hidden tunnel and swimming, he followed the twists and turns. Turning his head slightly, he could see that he was barely keeping pace with the cracks and he could feel the tunnel collapsing behind him from the weight of the crumbling mountain.

Free of the tunnel, Oce began swimming up towards the surface, and cursed when a falling boulder almost crushed him, but he managed to phase through it at the last moment. Yay weird powers... Still swimming towards the surface, with a last few strong kicks he managed to break though the rough surface waters. Looking around him, Oce felt something, causing him to turn and look at where he just swam. The mountain with the building on top was crumbling and falling into the ocean.

The tunnel taking him about thirty feet away from the action kept him in relative safety but still allowed him to watch what was happening. But what _was_ happening? Something big had to cause that mountainside to crumble, but why was the temple ruins destroyed and crushed before the mountain? It's as if whatever destroyed the mountain had to destroy the holy ruins before... Frowning, Oce knew what that meant: demons. And he was pretty sure it was somehow related to that artifact he was contracted out to find, and then his partner stole from him to get all of the reward.

Broken out of his musings by the fact that _people_, _alive people_, were falling as well, Oce began swimming towards them. Considering how angry the sea was, after falling into it, they wouldn't stay alive for very long. About ten feet away, Oce saw a figure in white fall into the ocean, and he dove down to intercept him. Grabbing the man under the shoulders, Oce began dragging his unconscious body towards the surface.

Calling out his power to encompass him and his unconscious friend; getting squished by really very big falling rocks wasn't quite high on his to-do list; Oce began swimming for the beach and solid land. Once on dry ground, he would figure out what to do with the man and maybe get some answers as to why they wanted to bring more demons to this world.

00000

Dragging himself out of the water, Schuldig collapsed on the beach and began coughing up swallowed seawater. Opening his eyes to see a small fish flopping on the beach, his eyes widened in horror, /Please tell me that I did _not_ just cough that up! Please tell me I didn't swallow a so-raw-it's-still-alive fish!/

/Okay, you didn't swallow.../

/NAGI! You're alive!/

/Yes, and?/

/For not catching me, I'm gonna kill you!/

Nagi poked the waterlogged German with his shoe, "Really? And how do you plan on doing that?"

Looking up, Schuldig glowered at Nagi through stands of matted hair. Unfortunately for him, Nagi didn't find it all too threatening...

Crouching down, he asked, "Where's Crawford?"

Grunting slightly, Schu sat up and shrugged his shoulders. "I dunno... I can't feel him... must be unconscious..."

At that statement, Nagi turned frantic. "If he's unconscious in the water, he'll drown!"

"And that's a bad thing?"

"Schuldig!"

"If the Oracle dies, God will be happy. If Crawford lives, it will make God cry."

Looking up at the psychopath, Schuldig smirked, "Well then, let's make God cry."

00000

Laying the unconscious man on the beach, Oce brushed his hair away from his face and leaned his ear to the man's chest. "Breathing, check." He then began running his hands down the quite built and attractive body. "No broken bones..." Brushing his fingers softly through the man's hair, he murmured, "Doesn't appear to be any cranial damage. Lucky, to fall from a crumbling building into the sea and to only suffer from unconsciousness..."

Staring softly down at the man, Oce tenderly brushed the man's bangs away from his forehead. Oce was startled back when the man opened his eyes and catching Oce's wrist, looked at him.

Wide eyed, Oce stared down at the man who had the darkest brown eyes he had ever seen; other than his brother... Frozen, Oce could only stare into those eyes, and then winced slightly when the pressure on his wrist increased.

"W-who ar-re you...?"

Oce stared down at the man and licked his lips. The eyes were not staring directly at him, they were slightly unfocused and Oce noticed two indentations on the sides of the man's nose. Glasses, he wears glasses... So if he needs them to see properly, without them, he cannot see my face or my Ocesion body. Convenient.

The man spoke again, "Your name."

"Only if given something in return."

The man glared at Oce. "You may call me the Oracle."

"Okay, the Oracle. My name is Oceanus, Oce for short. And, I get to choose what will be given to me." Oceanus bent down, his lips hovering over the Oracles'. "And seeing how a name is the only thing truly owned by a man, it is quite valuable. So, something valuable must be given in return. A kiss..." Oce's lips brushed over the Oracles' lips. Pulling back, he smiled slightly, "...and this will do quite nicely!" Oce chirped out as he removed the watch from the wrist imprisoning his own.

The Oracle tried to grab it back but fell back to the sand. Eyes closed, he said softly, "That was my father's watch, it's all I have left."

Looking at the old and weathered gold, Oce smiled sadly. "You have more than the watch; you have the memories of your family. I don't even have that..." Blinking, Oce winked at the Oracle. "Think of it as an incentive. I will come back to you looking for a favor, and the watch will be payment. But I will look different then, and I may not come to you, but one of your black minions."

"Black minions? Schwarz?"

Gazing down the beach, special lenses slid across his eyes, and his pupils turned and shifted as he focused on the fast approaching figures. Blinking, his eyes returned to normal, and he looked back down at the man on the beach. "They're approaching, and I'll be taking this as my cue to leave. Remember," Oce indicated the watch in his hand, "this shall be your payment for the favor I will ask of you. And its absence will also serve as a reminder of the day you were pulled from the sea and were asked for nothing in return for that act. Until then, I will treasure it as you have. Adieu."

Breaking the hold on his wrist, Oce pushed away from Crawford and dove into the sea, his tail causing a spray of droplets to fall and a rainbow to form. With wide eyes, Crawford watched as Oceanus swam back out to the sea, the flapping of his tail breaking the surface.

00000

When Schuldig, Nagi and Farfarello reached him, he held his tongue on the matter of the man who was also half fish. No doubt, Schuldig will tease him non stop about it, blaming it on too much swallowed sea water, or him not having his glasses or some other plausible explanation. But, all he needed to do was to look at the pale band of flesh on his left wrist to know that this ...this _merman_ actually existed. Ignoring Schuldig's prattling, he gazed out at the ocean. With all his powers, even Estet with all of their powers, did not know that this creature of legend actually existed. It's quite humbling, especially when said creature pulled him from the ocean, but pulled free no one else. All of this time, he has been wrapped up in his own powers, thinking himself better than those lesser mortals... if their positions were reversed, would _he _as a merman have pulled a psion from the sea? Probably not. Knowing himself, he would have sneered at the foolish human who dared to enter his domain, then would have continued on with his plotting and scheming.

"Bradley?"

"My name is Crawford, not Bradley. You would do best to remember that."

Schuldig pouted. "Well, may-be if you actually listened to me instead of zoning out, I would call you Crawford. But, no-o-o-o! You, Mr. High-and-Mighty are too good to listen to us lesser men!"

Crawford smiled, shocking Schuldig into silence. "No, most definitely not."

"Most definitely not what? Crawford? Crawford! You're acting all funny! YO, NAGI! I think he hurt his head, he's smiling!"

Amused at Schuldig's antics, he cast one last gaze out to sea before resuming his role as the leader of Schwarz. Gathering his team together, he began plotting and scheming how to survive the wrath of Estet, and when that hurdle was cleared, he would need to decide on what they will do after.

After Schwarz left, and the beach became deserted once more, a head broke the surface of the water. Multi-hued green hair floating around him, Oceanus focused his Caribbean-blue eyes in the direction Schwarz went.

Smiling, Oceanus said something and dove back under the ocean, the winds carrying his words to the barren shoreline.

"Be seeing you."

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Author's notes:

So? Didja like the first part yet? Yes, no impartial? Please r and r, it'll make me very happy and more inclined to write.

This is a combination of two Schwarz ficcie ideas, combined because when I _finally_ have all my fics up and posted, I will have an obscenely large number of Schwarz/Oc fics, especially considering the rather large role they will play in the Deviant Quartz chapter in the Thirteen Chronicles, not considering all the appearances they make and the references made towards them in that universe.

Anyways, can u say obsessed much? ...Especially when I haven't actually _seen_ the show yet? But, hopefully, that will be soon remedied, if FEDEX hasn't returned to sender my Schwarz dvds.

Either way, thanks for reading, and hopefully the wait for the next chapter wont be too long.


	2. Chapter One

Although I still don't own all the yummy boys of Weiss Kreuz, I _do_ own the DVDs, so YAY being able to finally watch it! Squee! I loved how Schwarz looked in the first opening! So hot and evil and cool!

Okay, for the prologue it was accidentally posted as G instead of R. So, I'll compromise and have it set at PG-13 until all the R rated goodness starts, which probably wont be for a few chapters.

Anyways, here's chapter one!

Oceans Apart

**-Chapter One-**

Sprawled across the couch, Schuldig was idly flipping through the channels on tv. Feeling somebody's gaze on him, Schuldig tilted his head just enough to see the person out of the corner of his eye.

Glaring down at the lazy German on the couch, Nagi removed his shoes and hung up his coat. Turning back to Schuldig, he frowned. "Well?"

Turning back to the tv, Schu offered up a "Well what?"

"You forgot, didn't you?"

Schuldig shrugged slightly, "If _I_ forgot, it must not have been important."

Rolling his eyes, Nagi shook his head. "Crawford _told_ you to let Farf out."

"Oops..." Twisting and rolling himself up into a sitting position, but just settling for propping himself up on one arm, Schu made a pouting face at Nagi.

Glancing back at Schuldig, he rolled his eyes. "Don't make that face..." Nagi shuddered, "Kowai."

Dropping the cute, pouty act, Schu huffed, "I'm not scary... Hey, Naggles?"

Pausing and sighing in the hallway, long given up on Schuldig not calling him those childish names, he turned and waited. "Well...?"

Smirking slightly, Schu continued, "Since you're going to your room, would you be able to let Farf out on your way? Danke."

"Schuldig, that was _your_ job! I'm not letting..."

"Danke."

"Schuldig! I'm not..."

"Danke."

Rolling his eyes and sighing at Schu's childish behavior, he turned and walked towards Farf's room. Hearing Schu's "Ha ha, I win" made him twitch slightly. "Stupid German."

"I heard that!"

Nagi muttered something very unflattering under his breath about orange-haired Germans.

Laughing, Schu yelled out, "I heard that, too."

00000

Depositing his book bag in his bedroom, Nagi walked down the hallway to stand in front of Farfarello's room. Taking a deep breath, he slowly opened the door and peeked around it. "Farf?"

Poking his entire head into the room, he called out again. "Farf, you okay to come out?"

"The Guilty One forgot."

Hesitating over Farf's grumpy tone of voice, Nagi proceeded cautiously. "It seems that way, but remember, it _is_ Schuldig..."

Farf glowered silently out of his single amber eye.

Sighing, Nagi proceeded forward, unhooking Farf then righting him with his telekinesis. As he telekinetically unbuckled the restraints, he continued to console Farf. "I'm sure Crawford will let you out tonight when he finds out what happened." When a person is displeased, make them forget their displeasure by giving them something pleasurable.

Farf perked up and asked hopefully, "And let me hurt God?"

Nagi grinned slightly, "Yes, you can go pick on God."

Calmly following Nagi out towards the living room, he asked, "Can I watch the tv?"

Nagi shook his head, grinning he indicated his head towards Schu. "You'll have to fight the slug for that one."

From the couch, they heard a disembodied voice, "Hey! I'm not a slug!"

"Yeah, slugs actually move, albeit slowly. You're more a sloth."

Sitting up, Schu sighed dramatically. "Y'know, Nagi? That hurts, right here." And Schu placed a hand over his chest.

Rolling his eyes at the dramatics, he telekinetically moved Schu's hand to the other side of his chest. "You're heart's on the left side." Turning to Farf, he said, "Be good." Glancing back at Schu he added, "You too. I have work to do, so no games."

"Ja, Mutter."

00000

With Nagi busy and Crawford still at his office, that left him only one person to play with. "Hey, Farf! Come and watch tv with me."

Farf walked into the living room and stood to the side of the couch Schu was sprawled across. Looking up at the albino, Schu smirked. "I saved you a nice spot on the floor. Still mad at me?"

Looking down at the German, Farf sat down cross-legged in front of the couch. Taking this as a sign of peace, Schu's smirk widened, "Good."

Pointing the remote at the television, Schu began to rapidly change channels. "Boring, seen it, soap opera, Japanese soap opera, infomercial, infomercial, news..."

After five minutes of this, Farf snatched the remote from Schu and snapped in two. "We will watch this," Nodding his head, he continued, "This will hurt God."

"FARF!" Schu wailed, "You broke the clicker! How am I supposed to change the channels now? Sports coverage doesn't hurt God, but _I_ definitely will hurt _you_ if you don't get up there and change the channel right now!"

When Farf immediately didn't get up and do his bidding like he commanded, Schu began to poke him in the back of the head. "Farf? FARF! Change the channel!"

"No."

Chocking on his surprise, he managed to rationally ask, "Why not?"

Farf shrugged, "Payback."

Eyes narrowed, Schu gah-lared at the white head in front of him. If looks could kill... but a telekinetic's looks can! And he can also change the channel!

/Yo, Nagi!/

An annoyed sigh was broadcasted across the link. /What do you want, Schuldig?/

Broadcasting an image of a very cute and pleading chibi-Schu to Nagi he said in his best innocent victim "voice", /Farf broke the clicker and now he wont change the channel for me./

Rolling his eyes, Nagi put down his textbook. Rubbing at theSo I should punish the bridge of his nose, he responded, /Really? And you are the victim here and that's why I should help you?/

/Ja./

/And I should probably punish Farf who is the evil bad guy in this situation?/

/Well, if you have nothing better to do.../

/So I should punish the person whom _you_ kept locked in his room all day?/

/Yah, that's basically it./

/Goodbye, Schuldig./

/So you're not going to change the channel for me?/

Although his shields were nowhere near strong enough to keep out the telepath, Nagi had his ways for keeping his privacy. Calling to the front of his mind, Nagi began projecting as loud as he could _all_ of the chemistry, biology and physics he has ever learned. Nagi smiled to himself when he heard Schu yell out, "Agh! Science! Nagi, you dirty cheater!"

Glaring at the white head in front of him that caused this mess; Schu sighed and resigned himself to either having to move to change the channel or having to watch sports. After a few seconds of unsuccessful wriggling, he decided, sports it is.

00000

After sitting through, or in his case, lying through twenty very boring minutes of golf - as if that actually is a sport - something very interesting came on, causing him to divert all of attention towards the television screen.

Basically naked, sleek muscled teenagers were shown on the screen stretching around a pool. Interested, very interested, Schu began paying closer attention to what the news reporter was saying.

"...and just last night Fields Sebastian-san arrived back in Nippon and agreed to participate in this exciting event..."

/Sebastian Fields? Kinda sounds familiar.../

"...as you can see..." the camera switched its angle from the reporter to the cheering crowd, "... the fan favorite today is clearly Fields-san, as you all can see with his adoring fans... Oh, wait! Fields-san is heading onto the pool deck!"

The camera was viciously swung, making Schu feel slightly nauseous, and then it settled on a figure in a navy blue hooded sweatshirt and a pair of tear-away track pants.

What's so good about that guy? He looks like everybody else, except he's not Japanese, and... Schu's train of though was cut off when the person in question pulled off the bulky sweatshirt to reveal the sleek and toned swimmers body underneath.

/Wow./

/Wow what?/ Nagi asked Schu from across the link.

/This swimmer guy. I can see why he's so popular.../

/Swimmer? I'm assuming you "decided" to watch the sports channel?/

/Yeah, and a good thing too, or else I would have missed this!/

Intrigued by Schuldig's enthusiasm in the swimmer, he ventured out from his room to see what the big deal was all about. Standing behind the couch and looking at the tv, and the Olympian God plastered across it, all Nagi could say was, "Wow."

The God in question was stretching his arms while listening to music played through the chunky headphones. At the sight of those muscles flexing under the afternoon sun, whatever the reporter was saying was falling on deaf ears.

Slimmer and taller than the other swimmers, Sebastian stretched his arms above his head, arcing his body backwards. Shaking off his stretch, he yawned slightly. Another gajin came over to him, and began talking into his ear. A startled look quickly passed across the man's face, he blinked then burst out into laughter.

"Kirei..." Nagi murmured at the swimmer's display of amusement. Sebastian, still laughing, slapped the other man across the shoulders, and then walked up to the starting blocks. Bending down, he gripped the seam of his track pants, then pulled up and away, causing all of the snaps to unfasten. Sebastian tossed the track pants to the other gajin amid the screams of his cheering fans.

Shaking his head, amused, at the crowd's reaction, Sebastian propped on leg on the block and began stretching it out. And repeated the process with the other leg. Watching from the security of their apartment, Schu breathed out, "Legs that long should be outlawed."

By this point, Nagi had to sit down, his legs refusing to support him. Staring at the screen, all he could say was, "Speedo. He's wearing a Speedo."

Schuldig licked his lips, why hadn't he ever though of watching swimming before? Pretty soon, he'll jump into that pool and come out all glisten-y and wet.

After a few more delicious moments of Sebastian stretching, all of the swimmers approached the blocks and were starting to line up. The only swimmer with long hair, the other either with shaved heads or their hair stuffed under swim caps, Sebastian really stood apart from the Japanese competitors.

Taking the goggles from around his neck, he adjusted them so they were sitting comfortably over his eyes. Ready, he took his place on the starting block, and waited patiently.

When all the swimmers were lined up on the blocks, the count down began.

"On your Marks!"

The swimmers bent forward, positioning themselves for the dive.

"Get Set!"

Sebastian's toes tensed around the edge of the block, the muscles in his back rippling from anticipation.

"GO!" With that signal, a gun was shot into the air and the swimmers dove from the blocks. Unable to move his eyes from the brunette with the braided hair, Schu watched as he dove horizontally away from the blocks, the powerful legs providing the momentum. The long body jackknifed in the air and then he was shooting through the water like a missile. After coasting about ten feet, his chest and head emerged from the water as he swam the butterfly. When he reached the opposing wall, Sebastian turned and used those legs to kick off the wall, propelling him through the clear pool. Before his momentum began to decrease, he swam the front crawl on his way back. The race was over before it hardly begun, with Sebastian beating the other swimmers by at least a minute thirty.

After the race, the news reporter was talking to the still dripping Sebastian, much to his fan's delight.

"How does it feel to not only defeat your opponents, but to also beat your personal best?"

Sebastian shrugged. Still a little breathless he replied, "It feels pretty good, especially since I have stopped competing."

The reporter and Schuldig frowned. He can't stop swimming after I've discovered it! Not fair!

"Then the rumors are wrong? This race wasn't the start of your comeback to the sport?"

Sebastian shook his head slightly, causing water droplets top fall from his long hair. "No, I'm afraid it isn't. The only reason why I agreed to swim today was because I would not have been left alone until I _did_ race. But now that I have raced against and beaten the top swimmers in Japan, and set a new personal best and sub sequentially world record, even when I haven't trained for the past three years, I feel that I have proven myself to the world. Now, I can go on with my life without having to deal with other up and coming swimmers with a little talent constantly pressuring me to compete against them."

The reporter continued on, "But could you have not waited until _after_ the next Olympics? Would you not like to win one last gold medal for your country?"

Sebastian shrugged and grinned, "Been there, done that, got the t-shirt. I have already had my fifteen minutes, it's time for these other athletes to have theirs."

"What a noble sentiment. Not competing to allow others a chance to win. Very few athletes have willingly done so."

Sebastian titled his head slightly to the side and grinned, "Very few athletes have accomplished what I have."

"That is so very true. You have broken numerous records and have set the bar to new heights for the future generation of swimmers. You may not be the Lord of the Sea, but you are definitely the Lord of the Pool." The cameraman focused on Sebastian's face, and his Caribbean-blue eyes stared out at the camera.

With that, the broadcast of the swim meet changed to the soccer match that night, and Schu managed to get Nagi to telekinetically turn off the television.

"Wow."

"Wow is right."

"It's a shame that he won't be swimming anymore. The way he swam, it was pure... beauty..."

Schuldig pouted, "It's a shame I won't be able to see his almost-naked body again..." Schu let his words drift off, thinking. "Waitaminnit! I'm a telepath and the rules of man don't apply! I can see his almost-naked body anytime I want to!"

"I'm glad your aspiring to such great heights, Schuldig."

Schuldig turned his head to see Bradley Crawford standing at the doorway to the living room. Schuldig laughed, "I believe it was you who said 'whatever keeps me out of trouble.' ".

"So I am to assume that this will become your new preoccupation?"

Schu smirked, "Minds in turmoil taste like honey; Olympian Gods will taste like ambrosia. And with them, there will be no bees for me to look out for."

Crawford's shoulders rose minutely in a slight shrug. "No, with the Gods you needn't fear the bees. You merely must be careful not to invoke their wrath."

With that warning still floating in the air, Crawford walked to his office and shut the door. Sitting down at his desk, he placed his briefcase on the desktop, and rested his head ion his folded hands as is he was in prayer.

Caribbean-blue eyes, the clear color of the Southern oceans. In all of his twenty-eight years on this planet, he has only seen eyes that color twice. The eyes of his baby brother who lost his life to the sea, and the eyes of the merman who pulled him from it.

Glancing at the bare spot on his wrist where his father's watch once rested, Crawford remembered. It appears that after the year and a half since the demise of Eszett, and your appearance, you are finally ready to ask of me the favor that will earn back my most precious treasure.

Staring down at the framed picture on his desk, showing a man and a woman holding a baby with a boy standing in front of them, Crawford smirked and then looked out the window.

"Hurry up, little fish. Hurry and ask your favor, for I am not a patient man. And be careful, for my payment will not only be the watch, but your soul as well."

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Author's notes:

The thing about the remote control I read in another Weiss fic... unfortunately I can't remember which one...

A friend once told me that Sebastian means Lord of the Sea, and I've decided to keep that meaning, although she was slightly wrong (Bastion either means a means of fortification, of a person defending a principle, not lord of, bui oh well.). And that is where that little play on words come from. Sebastian: Lord of the Sea, and because of how well he can swim he has been dubbed the Lord of the Pool... I though it was amusing, anyways...

Yes, Weiss will make an obligatory appearance, but not for a little while at least.

Thank you, please r & r! And as for my first review, YAY, I will try to write my action scenes in a less confusing manner. It's just that the way I write them I how I see them in my head based on all the characters' perspectives, without going soo far in one perspective that I ruin the surprise for the other. Either way, it's something that I'm going to work on.


	3. Chapter Two

Ahh... whoever is reading this, I hope you're liking it, and if so, TELL ME! **sniff sniff** I didn't get a lot of attention as a child, so give it to me now, ne?

_Italics - _flashbacks

**Oceans Apart**

**-Chapter Two-**

After thoroughly trouncing his opposition in that swimming match –match, hah!– Rayne padded slowly towards the showers, needing to get this itchy chlorine film off his skin. Shaking his head slightly at all his adoring fans, who couldn't even get his name right, he managed to avoid all the other reporters and got to the safety of the locker room.

Once inside, he grabbed his mesh toiletries bag and towel and walked to the shower stalls. Walking into one, he closed the curtain behind him and hung the bag from the showerhead. Peeling off his Speedo he turned on the water, he let it run on is foot until it was the right temperature then he stood under the spray. Letting the water pour over his head, cleansing him physically and spiritually, Rayne closed his eyes and began to think.

Why should _they_ care if I stop swimming? I never swam for _them_; I didn't swim to get glory or fame, for country or myself. I swam so _he_ could find me, I know he's out there... but... I just can't remember...

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_A younger Rayne quietly snuck into his room softly shutting his door and flicking on the lights, he turned to see his foster mom sitting on his bed._

_"Rayne Fields, do you know what time it is?"_

_Rayne rubbed his left arm and looked at the floor guiltily, and mumbled, "I dunno..."_

_"It is 'I do not know', and you do know that it is past your curfew. You are supposed to be in before sundown. And look at you! You are all wet, you will catch your death of cold!"_

_Rayne looked up with a guilty look plaster across his face. "I'm sorry, but I was playing with my friends..."_

_"You were swimming with your friends? Down by the pool?"_

_Rayne shook his head, causing his foster mom to frown. "You were swimming down by the pier?" When Rayne nodded his head, the woman sighed out. "Rayne, it is dangerous to be down there by yourself and especially when it is dark out. A lot of bad people do bad things down there. Why cannot you and your friends swim at the pool?"_

_Rayne shrugged and looked up at his mum. "They don't like coming out of the ocean..."_

_His foster mom frowned slightly, trying to understand. "So, your friends are sea animals, like fish?"_

_Rayne shrugged. He didn't like lying to his mum, but he couldn't tell the truth that they did have fish tails, but only when swimming. When in their city, they walked around. But, he had already tried telling his mum that, and she didn't believe him. _

_Sighing, his mum rubbed his hair, "Well, maybe if we enrolled you in the swimming club, you will be able to make some friends there? Does that sound like a good idea?"_

_Rayne shrugged again. He didn't see what was wrong with the friends he already had, they were more like him that the other children were. But, he didn't want to disappoint his mum, either._

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_Later that week, Rayne was standing next to his mum on the pool deck, as she was talking to the swimming instructor._

_"... how well can he swim..."_

_"... swims rather often down by the pier..."_

_Rayne looked around, bored. Why couldn't _he_ swim with the other kids in the pool? Why did he have to stand here with this man and his mum talking about stupid stuff? Either you can swim or you can't. And he can swim. Turning his head, he crinkled his nose at the smell of the chlorine. The salty smell of the ocean was better._

_"Rayne!"_

_Startled, he glanced up at hid mum, "Yes?"_

_"Why don't you show the nice man how well you can swim?"_

_Nodding his head, Rayne padded to the edge of the pool but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. "Careful, little man. The water is pretty deep here."_

_Rayne looked up at the man, "I prefer it that way."_

_Walking out from under the man's grasp, Rayne stopped at the pool's edge. With his hand at his sides, Rayne bounced to the tips of his toes then jumped up and out. When he was airborne, he arced in midair like a dolphin and pulling his arms forward, dove down into the water and swam a deviation of the butterfly. After reaching one end of the pool, he twisted around and pushed off the wall with his feet, propelling himself forwards and swam back, again using a deviation of the butterfly. _

_When he reached the wall where the man and his mum were standing, he pulled himself out of the pool and looked up at the speechless adults. After a long pause of stunned silence, the man knelt down to Rayne's height and put a hand on his shoulder. Looking him in the eye he asked, "Rayne, do you know what the Olympics are?"_

_Rayne shook his head no. "Well, it's a competition where the best athletes in the world compete against each other. And one of the events happen to include swimming."_

_"Are you saying that Rayne has the potential to become an Olympic athlete?"_

_Without looking away from Rayne, the man nodded. "The kid swam that well on natural talent alone. In a couple of years ad with training, he will be ready to take on the world, and win."_

_"Win what?"_

_The man smiled at Rayne. "Medals, prestige, fame..." _

_"So, if I go to the Olympics and win, I'll become famous?"_

_"Yes."_

_"And people will see me?"_

_"If you win, people will see nothing else. It will be all over the television, newspapers, everything."_

_Rayne thought for a few seconds then nodded his head. If he became famous all over everything, then his brother would have to see him. And then, his brother would come get him and they could be a family again._

_"So, do you want to do it?"_

_Rayne nodded his head again, "I want to win."_

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Shutting off the water, Rayne sighed. He won every match in two consecutive sets of Olympic games; once when he was thirteen and again when he was seventeen, but it was all for nothing. He believed that if he became famous in the world of swimming, that his brother would see him and want to become a family again. But nine years later, he was still alone and with nothing to show for it.

His brother never saw him and never came to get him. If only he could remember what he looked like, what his name was. After the first Olympics with no results, he decided to find his brother himself and hired professional help. But with the minimal information he provided, the outlook was grim. Without his brother's name, there was nothing that they could do; there are just too many people. But if he cannot even remember his own name, how could he remember the name of his brother? If only he could remember.

Dressing in his briefs and jeans, Rayne walked to the bathroom and plugged in his blow dryer. Brushing out his long expanse of hair, he turned on the dryer and started to dry it; looking at his reflection in the mirror, he remembered a similar event from two years ago.

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_Rayne was brushing out his hair and drying it with the blow dryer. The one thing he hated about long hair was how long it took to dry, but having short hair, to him at least, just seemed weird._

_Over the noise of the blow dryer, Rayne heard footsteps. Looking up, he saw his trainer's reflection in the mirror, and waited._

_"So, is it true?"_

_Rayne and his reflection raised one eyebrow, prompting his trainer to be more precise in his questioning._

_"Are you quitting swimming? After all of our work, you are going to throw it all away?"_

_"Our work? Unless I am mistaken, that was me swimming in that pool today."_

_"You know what I mean. We both worked hard to get you to where you are today! And now that you are at the peak of you career, you're throwing it all away! Other swimmers would kill to be where you are!"_

_"Kill? Isn't that a little melodramatic? And if I'm not here, wouldn't it be easier for them to be here themselves?"_

_"You're missing the point!"_

_"Really? Then tell me, what is your point?"_

_At the silence, Rayne smirked slightly. Like so many others he has met over the years, this man had no point. He was simply living his life vicariously through the swimmers he has trained, and not very well at that._

"_Think of all the people you will be disappointing!"_

_Rayne looked the man's reflection in the eye. "I didn't set out to become a role model. I don't care at all about all the things my fame was brought. I only wanted one thing, and after seven years, I haven't gotten it. It is time for a new approach."_

_"Your brother? Rayne, don't you think that maybe he_ has_ seen you and doesn't _want_ to be with you?"_

_Rayne slammed down his hairbrush in anger. In a deadly and dangerously soft voice he asked back, "And maybe he hasn't seen me at all? Even with my fame, I am only famous in the swimming world. Only for a few brief moments every four years, do I become famous to the world, and that fame is still known only to those interested in swimming. This," Rayne rose his arms indicating where he was, "has failed. Becoming a famous swimmer has not worked. It is now time to find something else. Something that will draw the attention of my brother."_

_The reflection sneered at him. "Really, and what are you going to do? All you know is swimming!"_

_Smirking at the reflection Rayne replied, "Precisely."_

_00000_

Looking back up at the mirror, the phantom reflection of his former swimming coach was gone. The only face staring back at him was a mirrored version of him. Rayne tilted his head, and then smiled. Who knew how profitable swimming could be, especially when you were swimming towards ancient and forgotten relics. People paid good money for those powerful treasures these days, and it will be that money that will attract his brother. His dreams told him so.

Pulling the hairbrush one last time through his hair, Rayne walked back to the lockers. Pulling on his shirt, he then grabbed a baseball cap and twisted his hair up under it. No need to reveal his identity to all his adoring fans. Glancing down at his watch and noting what time it was, he grabbed his bad and jogged out of the locker room. Mustn't be late to meet his new clients, it would be rude and people tend to frown upon that. Word must get out that Rayne Fields; Relic Hunter was the only man for the job. And with him being the Sebastian coupled with his ability to Ghost, that fact was all too evident.

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H'okay, that chapter was pretty short (especially when compared to ApotheosisïƒŸshameless plug) but this seemed like a good stopping point. If not, with all the actiony goodness of the next scene, it would have ran far too long. I'm trying to keep the chapters short (by my standards) because this story is _not_ going to turn into one of my usual and far too common epics, but is going to be relatively short and sweet. Soo... yeah... the fun is really going to start in the next chapters!


	4. Chapter Three

Yep, still don't own Weiss... or Schwarz for that matter, but someday... Either way, enjoy the next chappie and check out my deviantart account ) to see pics of my story and pics relating to my story. All I have up right now is line art of Rayne, but it will get colored... eventually...

Either way, here's chapter three!

Oceans Apart 

**Chapter Three**

Rayne, dressed in a three-piece designer Italian suit sat in a booth in an Italian restaurant. He was sipping at his drink when his new client entered the restaurant and was led to Rayne table. Setting his drink down, Rayne stood up bowed respectively to his Japanese client, and then they both sat down. Sipping at his drink again, Rayne waited for the man to speak.

"You are the Relic Hunter?"

Rayne nodded his head, confirming that fact. The man was about to continue when the waiter came by to take their orders. When asked for his wine choice, Rayne shook his head. Grinning at his companion, he apologized. "I'm sorry, but I am still too young to drink alcohol. Iced tea will be fine."

Nodding, the waiter turned to Rayne's companion, who simply waved him away. Nodding his head at the request, the waiter backed away. Turning back to the man sitting across the table from him, Rayne smiled slightly. "Don't let my age fool you. I am quite good at what I do."

The man replied, "I am well aware of your conquests, my people did extensive research before hiring you. They simply failed to emphasize your youthful stature."

Rayne shrugged is shoulders, "Well, better energetic and youthful than wrinkly and old... especially in this line of work."

The man hummed in agreement, then handed a file folder across the table. Paper clipped to the outside of the folder was a glossy folder. Unclipping the picture, Rayne gazed at it. And looked up when he heard the man's voice.

"This is what my superiors want you to find. It is worth its weight in gold and if you retrieve it, my superiors will pay you three times that. If you fail to retrieve it, you wont need money where they will send you."

Rayne raised an eyebrow at that thinly veiled threat. For some unknown reason, threats fail to motivate him...

"This is how you can contact me." Rayne took the business card from the man's outstretched hand. "They expect to be updated in a week. There had better be results and they better be positive."

Looking at the man who's trying to scare him and failing miserably, Rayne flashed his teeth in a predatory smile. "I seldom fail."

"This time, make sure of that. Enjoy your lunch, it has already been paid for." With that, the man got up from the booth and walked away. Smiling slightly, Rayne murmured, "Yay free food."

Placing the rather big file folder into his messenger bag, Rayne set his glass down on the photograph when the waiter came back with his order. When he left, Rayne removed his glass and picked up the photo. Spearing some pasta on the end of his fork, he brought it to his lips. Chewing, he stared at the picture.

Azrael's Bell: The bell to summon demons and wake the dead... Unlike much of the other artifacts, relics, whatever he has been sent to find, this is of some value for it actually does what it is believed to do. Now, as for the why... why do these people need this kind of power? More importantly, _who_ needs this kind of power?

Lifting another forkful of pasta to his lips, Rayne chewed thoughtfully. Either way, I really have no choice in the matter. As the Sebastian, I have to find it; being the only way to protect humanity from it. I must also find out what these mortal men are truly up to, and discover if they have any other magickal relics in their possessions.

Tilting his head to the left slightly, Rayne smirked at his momentary loss of intelligence. Of course they must already have powerful magickal relics in their possessions, for no mortal could possibly know about Azrael's Bell otherwise. Hn... an interesting little puzzle. Rayne grinned. This _will_ be fun.

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At the pool located in Ken's gym, Nagi and Omi were swimming there on visitors' passes, and were being "chaperoned" by Yotan and Schuschu. Looking up from his boyfriend, Omi looked at Yoji and Schu who were lounging on some deck chairs. Pouting cutely, Omi asked in an annoyed voice, "Aren't we a little old for chaperones? As Persia of Kritiker, this is slightly demeaning..."

Nagi glanced sideways at Omi, "Only slightly?"

/It's so you two don't do anything.../ Schu interjected in a lazy tone.

Looking at his boyfriend, Omi grinned. "Careful, I think they're trying to protect our "innocence"."

Nagi laughed softly, "They're okay with killing, but not with us having sex?"

/No, no! We're just trying to protect Omi from becoming a Dark Beast, and having to have Weiss kill him./

"How so?" Nagi asked, looking at Omi.

/We-ell... If Omi, a legal adult, has sex with a minor, that's statutory rape and is considered illegal./

Omi rolled his eyes, but before he could respond, Nagi stopped him. "Just ignore him. He doesn't know what he is talking about."

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Glancing at the annoying redhead who insisted on sitting next to him, Yoji asked, "Why _are_ they here? They've never been interested in swimming before... And I know I had my fill of swimming after the whole falling-into-the-ocean thing."

With the chibis now ignoring him, Schu turned to Yoji. "About a week ago, Nagi became infatuated with a swimmer on TV; some gajin who decimated the competition."

"The one with the braid?" Yoji asked with a lecherous grin plastered across his face.

"You watched that too?"

Yoji's grin widened, as he laid back and closed his eyes. "I've been watching competitive swimming for a _long_ time now. All those little bathing suits, water-slicked muscles, ..." Yoji trailed off with a happy look on his face.

Shaking his head, Schu murmured, "And they call me the perverted one..."

Hearing the springs of the diving board, Schu looked up and poked Yoji in the ribs, getting his attention. Indicating with his head, Schu grinned, "Lookit."

Yoji opened his eyes and tilted his head to the left and up, seeing a person bouncing on the end of the diving board. Before he could say anything, he watched as the person held his arms out and jumped up and away from the diving board. Getting incredible height, the diver arced his body in midair and completed three full summersaults before opening up his body into a straight line and sliced through the water's surface.

Sitting up, Yoji watched as the man turned a half summersault in the water, and then twisted his body so that when he broke back through the surface he was facing the wall of the pool. Entranced, Yoji continued to watch the man as he swam lazily towards the pool's edge and then pulled himself up and out of the pool. Wide eyed, all Yoji could say was, "Sugoi..."

Yoji, just like everyone else at the pool, watched the man as he climbed up the dive tower, only to jump off again in increasingly more impressive dives. Yoji watched the man complete several more dives before the shrill ringing of a phone broke the spell.

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Ears picking up the ring of his cell phone, Rayne swam past the boys around his age who were staring at him and swam towards his phone. Hauling his body out of the pool, Rayne dripped his way towards the deck chair with his bad tossed across it. Grabbing a towel and dabbing at his sopping wet hair, he grabbed his cell phone out of his bag. Feeling more eyes on him, Rayne looked up to see a jade-eyed redhead and a green-eyed blonde both staring at him. Quirking up an eyebrow at the strange behavior - did he have something weird on his face or something?- he flipped open his phone, answering it. "Rayne Fields speaking."

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Watching the God-like creature take out a hands-free headset and clipping in onto his ear then attaching it to the phone, Yoji smiled. Chance!

Rayne unfastened the tie on the end of his braid and began to unweave his hair, making it easier to dry with the towel. Highly interested, Schuldig listened to the one sided conversation.

Rayne tilted his head slightly, pausing momentarily in the dabbing of his hair. Nodding slightly, "Janis. Why are you calling me?" After a brief lapse, Rayne smirked, "Really, and?" Raising his eyebrows slightly, a slightly condescending tone bled into his voice, "Is it that they're truly only interesting in that, or is it that they do not know about what else I can do?"

Schuldig raised his own eyebrows, how interesting...

Rolling his eyes slightly, Rayne grunted. "Hn..." Lips quirking up, amused, Rayne interjected, "I expected as much. I plan to use the lodestone to find it."

Schu frowned thoughtfully, lodestone? Better ask Crawford about that one later... This doesn't sound like an ordinary phone conversation. When he tried to see the other side of the conversation in Rayne's mind, all he got was a brief glimpse of some beribboned object before telekinetic-blocking walls shot up in Rayne's mind. Schuldig pouted.

Glancing at the redhead, Rayne raised a single eyebrow, and then said cryptically, "We shall see. Anything else?" Rayne listened with a thoughtful expression on his face, and then sighed out. "Yes. My priorities have not changed. I'll give them the world, if they can get me information on him."

Schuldig watched as the man flipped his cell phone shut, and then stared at the object, lost in thought. Trying to see into the man's mind again, all he was allowed to see were walls that resembled the fortifications of a castle, before the walls fully pushed him out of Rayne mind.

Pouting at Rayne who was inconsiderate enough to not allow him into his mind, he was startled slightly when he was suddenly looking straight into Caribbean-blue eyes. It was almost like those eyes could stare straight into his soul, the gaze was so intense. Rayne raised both his eyebrows at Schuldig and tilted his head slightly, asking a silent question, issuing a silent challenge. The trace he was under was only broken when Rayne blinked then turned his head away.

More than a little flustered about what just transpired, Schu watched as Rayne packed up his belongings and walked towards the men's changing rooms. Staring after him long after he was out of sight, one simple question kept repeating itself in Schuldig's mind. What _was_ that?

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Dropping his swimming bag by the door after kicking off his shoes, Rayne walked into his house, stretching his arms and yawning loudly.

"Good day?"

Rayne paused mid yawn and mid stretch and looked at Janis, sipping coffee on his couch. "Nice..." At J's comment, Rayne closed his mouth and smiled.

"Yeah, it was great! I swam for hours and even got to dive, and then I went in to one of those markets and got fresh fruit for smoothies - wow, fruit is expensive here – and then I went to this great restaurant...."

Smiling around his coffee at Rayne's childish enthusiasm over everyday things, Janis asked about what was important. "And, what about Azrael's Bell? Make any progress on that yet?"

Rayne tilted his head to the left, and pouted his lips slightly as he thought about that question. "Well... I have some ideas about where I can find information relating to it, but, seeing how I have other deadlines before that, I'm not going to sweat over it."

"But you do have some ideas? That guy sounded quite 'intense' during that meeting."

Rayne grinned as he puttered about his house, putting away his purchases, "I've dealt with worse..." after a pause, he continued, "a lot worse."

"Hmm... and have you decided if you are actually going to give it to them once found?"

Rayne shrugged, "I'll cross that bridge when I come to it."

"But you can't not give it them..."

Rayne poked his head out of the kitchen and grinned at Janis, "Oh, I'll give them something. But, who are they to know that it isn't exactly what they were hoping for?"

"Are you seriously considering double-crossing such a big and powerful organization?

"It's not considered a double-cross when you give them what they want. Especially when they are not entirely sure about the power of the Bell."

"But you know of the Bell's power?"

Rayne simply smiled. "Oh, how did this afternoon's meeting with Kritiker go? What do they require of Rayne Fields, Relic Hunter?"

Rolling his eyes slightly at Rayne's antics, he smirked as he relayed the extent of the meeting. "Basically, they quite interested in your abilities, but they don't know if you will be strong enough to complete the mission they have set out for you."

Rayne raised an eyebrow. "Really..."

"And in order to judge your abilities, they want you to complete a little scavenger hunt first."

Rayne narrowed his eyes in annoyance, "Scavenger hunt? ...Talk about juvenile. Were those their exact words?"

Janis nodded. "Remember, Kritiker _is_ an organization that deals with assassins..."

"Deals with assassins? I thought they were assassins..."

"Either way, there is more to this little scavenger hunt than meets the eye. I would be careful"

Rayne grinned and winked at Janis, "Aren't I always?"

Janis just _looked_ at Rayne.

"What? Don't give me that look! I really am!"

Sighing, Janis handed Rayne a sealed envelope. "Everything that you'll need is in here. Good luck, and try not to get yourself killed."

Rayne rolled his eyes, "I'll try not to."

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Quietly letting himself into the apartment, Schuldig heard is name being called. Groaning, the let his head thump against the closed door. He _knew_ he should of stayed away tonight. Nagi had his kitten over to play and Crawford was out with his kitty... At least they were going to have sex _before_ coming home... Ick... Crawford and Aya having sex, eww...

Waving a greeting to the two chibi snuggling on the couch – there was no way that they could be studying when sitting like that - he went into his bedroom. Turning on the tv, he connected all the wires to his XBox and settled himself down for a quality night of video game playing.

After a couple hours of mind-numbing excitement, Schuldig "felt" Crawford and Aya enter the apartment. /I thought the agreement was that we are supposed to have our "fun" outside the apartment. If you can bring Abyssinian home, why can't _I_ bring home my conquests?/

/Schuldig.../ Crawford thought in a warning tone, /I am only here to pick up a few things.../

/Ohhhh... So the Oracle forgot something? Careful Brad, or you'll wake up one day all senile!/

/Crawford. Not Brad, Crawford. And Abyssinian is not one of the disease ridden, flea infested.../

Schu frowned, /Are you insulting my bed choices?/

/If the ticks fit, .../

/Ha ha haaa... Very funny, Braddikins. I'll have to remember that one for later, very impressive. No, really, it truly is!/

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When they entered the apartment, Ran slid off his shoes and nodded his head in greeting at Omi and Nagi curled up on the couch. And then followed Crawford down the hallway and into his office. While Crawford was taking care of some business that he saw in a vision, Ran walked around the office, picking up little figurines and studying them. When he got to Crawford's desk where Crawford was working quickly on the computer, Ran reached forward past Crawford and picked up a framed photograph.

"Who is this?"

Crawford stopped typing and looked at Ran, who was holding the photo out to Crawford. Taking it from Ran, he looked at it then set it back down on his desk.

"A memento to my past."

Ran watched Crawford's actions, an almost melancholy expression on his face. "Your family?"

Nodding his head, he caused his glasses to flash white. For the first time, that expression failed to cow him, now, it invoked a feeling of sadness in him. "What happened to them?"

Crawford looked back up at Ran, "Eszett killed them trying to capture Robyn."

"Robyn?"

"My little brother. I saw how Eszett tried to take him from my parents so I warned them. Instead of losing my brother to Eszett, I lost my family to the sea."

"They drowned?"

"Yes, Eszett accidentally sank the cruise ship they were on trying to take Robyn"

Ran frowning, asked, "Why would they need to take Robyn away if they didn't have to do that for you?"

Going back to his work, Ran assumed that Crawford did not want to answer any more questions. "I was taken by Eszett when I was thirteen, so it was plausible for me to continue my schooling in Europe. They wanted to take Robyn when he was five."

Perching on the corner of Crawford's desk, he watched as the blacked haired American type for several minutes. "Sometimes, it helps to remember the good times..." he offered softly.

Closing his laptop, Crawford turned in his chair to face Ran. "I only spent four years with Roby, and then I was sent to Eszett. And during that time, I spent more time ignoring Robyn than being a good brother."

"How old were you when he was born?"

"I was nine."

"Well, that _is_ a pretty big difference in age... Aya and I were a lot closer in age than that and even then there were a lot of times when I didn't want to spend time with her because she was too young."

"And now, after all that has happened, do you regret that? Missed time?"

Ran shook his head, "I try to live my life without regrets. Why _did_ your parents allow you to go to Eszett?"

Crawford smirked slightly, "Punishment." At Ran's questioning look, he elaborated. "I wasn't watching Robyn, and he managed to make his way into the kitchen. He managed to knock a pot of boiling pasta off the stove and scalded the left side of his back. It caused a very distinctive scar, I always thought it looked like a feathered bat's wing?"

"Feathered?"

"The pasta caused a burn different than the water."

Ran smiled, "It may not be the best memory, but it is something."

"It gets better. Robyn was born with a crescent shaped birthmark at the base of his spine."

"How did you find that one?"

Crawford looked at Ran in a serious manner. "I had to change my share of dirty diapers."

Ran couldn't help but laugh. The sight of the Oracle of Schwarz changing dirty diapers... Wow.

Seeing the total change of Crawford's expression, Ran frowned. "What's happening?"

In a very Oracle-y voice, he said one word. "Trouble."

Following after Crawford, Ran ran out into the living room to stop dead in his tracks. Standing in the middle of the room, looking about with hand on his hips stood a man fully clothed in black, the monochromatic color scheme only broken by the brown belt loosely strapped around his hips with a bag tied it.

Talking to no one in particular, the man was commenting about how nice the apartment was. Seeing the varying startled, stunned, deadly expressions on the faces of the occupants of the room, the man smiled. "Sorry about the rude interruption, but there is something of yours that I need. And you _will_ give it to me, as you have no real choice in the matter."

Schuldig smirked, "Funny, every person who says that to us tends to wind up dead."

The man shrugged, turning his hands up and out and smiled, "Really? That's good, I'll have to remember it."

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Whoot! Another chapter done! And it's a longer one too, even though I didn't really get to any actiony scenes, there will be action in the next chapter... Probably because there couldn't be anything else after strangers threaten Schwarz in their own home... Umm, what else...

Oh yeah, a big thank you goes out to Bet You Love That and to YohjisKarebear two very lovely people who were kind enough to read and review! So, everybody scroll down to the bottom (or is it at the top) and click on the review button. Because I'm a poor college student, your reviews are the only way for me to know that people are actually reading!

And, yeah. That's enough rambling for chapter three! Hope you enjoyed it, unfortunately there will be a longer wait for chapter four 'cause I got to work on Apo.


	5. Chapter Four

Oceans Apart

Chapter Four

Seeing the total change of Crawford's expression, Ran frowned. "What's happening?"

In a very Oracle-y voice, he said one word. "Trouble."

Following after Crawford, Ran ran out into the living room to stop dead in his tracks. Standing in the middle of the room, looking about with hand on his hips stood a man fully clothed in black, the monochromatic color scheme only broken by the brown belt loosely strapped around his hips with a bag tied it.

Talking to no one in particular, Ran shifted into Abyssinian mode and watched with narrowed eyes as the man turned to face them, and was slightly startled by the eyes. They were the color of the Caribbean and slanted upwards at an almost unnatural angle.

Almost glaring at the intruder, Abyssinian shifted his right leg back, angling his body at the newcomer. Even without his sword, he can still pummel anyone stupid enough to get in the way of his fists.

Talking to no one in particular, the man was commenting about how nice the apartment was. Seeing the varying startled, stunned, deadly expressions on the faces of the occupants of the room, the man smiled. "Sorry about the rude interruption, but there is something of yours that I need. And you _will_ give it to me, as you have no real choice in the matter."

Schuldig smirked, "Funny, every person who says that to us tends to wind up dead."

The man shrugged, turning his hands out and smiling, "Really? That's good, I'll have to remember it."

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Behind the strip of black cloth tied across his face – where _does _Janis come up with these outfits? – Rayne smiled out at the members of Schwarz… which were more than four… Dammit! Rayne frowned softly, why couldn't even a simple thing like _this_ be easy? He just had to get four items from the four members of Schwarz. Totally basic in its simplicity, unless there are more than four people in the room… Rats. Now I'm going to actually have to think…

Feeling a slight brush at the frontal lobe of his brain, Rayne grinned, telepath. Following the "thread" from his mind to the source, Rayne found himself looking at the orange-haired man with the yellow bandana… the bandanna being one of the items on his list. Wow, he's making this a lot easier for me… Doesn't he know that the threads become a two-way street, if certain precautions are not implemented? Shifting his mind over to his Ocesion-mode, he sent his mind into the one of the telepath. Gathering all the information he needed, and then some, Rayne's grin widened, Nope.

00000

Totally unaware of what just happened in the last second and a half, Schuldig smirked, "Not many people smile in the face of death."

The "grinning idiot's" lips twitched, "Actually," emphasizing the word to show the speaker that he was wrong, he continued, "I'm grinning, not smiling, there's a difference. And I certainly do _not_ see you as my demise… more like a nuisance that will easily be confronted and then corrected."

Schuldig spluttered at that one, "You come into _our_ home to steal something of ours and then you _insult_ us? When I'm done with you, you'll wish that you were dead!"

"Hmm, really?" Rayne asked, quirking a brow. If the Kritiker people were as fun as this, then the next two weeks shouldn't be as sucky…

"Raaaa! Pay attention to me when I'm threatening you!"

"Hmm?" Rayne raised both eyebrows, "Sorry about that…" and then bolted into action.

00000

All Ran, the Abyssinian of Kritiker could sense, was a rush of wind when the intruder darted by him. Faster than he had ever seen Schuldig run, this person gave a new meaning to the word fast. He couldn't even see the man's legs pumping with the run, more like a blur around the seeming-to-be stationary legs…

The black blur darted around Nagi, too fast for the kid to even think of using his powers. All Nagi did was blink after the man left his general vicinity, "N-nani?"

Seeing the confused look on his boyfriend's face, Omi took out his darts and threw them at the man, only to have him turn around and catch them all out of mid air.

Omi was speechless, but his target was not, "I think these belong to you…" and with a flick of his wrist, threw all five darts back at Omi. The action was so fast that by the time Omi's brain actually registered the fact that his weapons were flying back at his face, the cuffs of his pants were already pinned to the hard wood floor when Omi finally managed to yelp out.

Turning away from the Nagi who was now more concerned about his boyfriend than the intruder, Abyssinian watched as the man darted towards the next big threat, the psychopath.

00000

Watching the Farf – weird name – with narrowed eyes, Rayne found himself blinking to stop the effects of Farf's hypnotizing swinging of his arm. Good thing too, because the white-haired maniac then screamed and lunged at him. Throwing his body sideways, Rayne barely managed to avoid the knife from gutting him and instead receiving a shallow slice across his chest, ripping open his shirt.

Facing the Farf full on again, he waited for the next attack, and didn't have to wait long. The Farf lunged as Rayne placed his hands outwards, gripping the needle-like knife in both hands, Rayne easily flipped up and over the Farf, ripping the weapon out of his hands and landing behind him. And to add insult to injury, Rayne whipped out a sidekick to send the psycho-assassin stumbling into the violet eyed man.

Ignoring the cries of outrage from the white and red haired men, Rayne sped towards the telepath and snatched off his yellow bandanna before he even realized what was happening. Tucking both the knife and circle of yellow cloth into the bad tied to the belt circling his waist, Rayne stopped in front of the leader of Schwarz, the Oracle.

Smiling at him, Rayne said softly, "Betcha didn't _see _this happening…" And pulled the glasses from his face. "Thank you…" and Rayne turned to run, when he stood still and frowned back at the Oracle… Something about him was _soo_ familiar… but what was it? Thinking, Rayne realized what it was. Those eyes, he has seen those eyes before, but where…?

Ripping himself from the memories that were trying to engulf him and sabotage his little scavenger hunt, Rayne barely managed to make it out of the apartment before the occupants were able to recover from his whirlwind and run after him.

Darting out into the hall, Rayne could hear their mumbles of what just happened, he can be so fast that at times it greatly confuses the mind, even psion ones. Stopping in front of the elevator he paused, elevator or stairs? With either one, the telekinetic can and will pose problems… Meh. May as well let Schwarz run down thirty plus flights of stairs…

Hitting the down arrow, the elevator pinged open just as the assassins sorted themselves out enough to run after him. Stepping into it, Rayne hit the door close button, and then pushed the button for the ground floor.

00000

Running down the hall after the little brat who made a fool of them, Schuldig stopped at the elevator and began cursing in German. Fuming, he stomped around until Crawford placed a hand on Schuldig's shoulder.

"There's only one was for him to go, down."

Looking from Crawford to the elevator, Schuldig smirked. "We'll meet him on the ground floor, and when the elevator doors open…" And Schuldig began laughing evilly.

Omi looked at Nagi, "Does he always get like this?"

Nagi sighed and shook his head, "Only around the full moon…"

Looking at the crazy telepath who was laughing over all the ways he was going to torture the "Brat who dared to make a fool of the mighty Schwarz", Ran turned his head towards Crawford. "Stairs?"

"This way."

Following after Crawford, they began running down the stairs. Puffing slightly and eyes crossing from effort, Schuldig whined out after the twentieth floor, "This is taking to long!"

Grabbing the railing in one hand, Schuldig vaulted over it and began falling down the stairwell. "Yo, Nagi!"

Shaking his head and rolling his eyes, Nagi lifted them all with his telekinesis and floated them down the stairwell and as well stopped Schuldig from splattering across the bottom floor.

Once on solid footing again, the group followed Schuldig as he ran to the elevators. Practically shaking in anticipation, Schuldig watched the floor numbers light up as the elevator continued its descent.

"Four… three… two… I'm going to turn his mind to mush! I'm gonna kill…"

The light for the ground floor lit up, and the doors slowly opened to reveal the empty elevator.

"… him? Where'd he go?" Wide-eyed with confusion, Schuldig turned to Crawford, "Are there Talents for becoming invisible? Or teleporting?"

Crawford just _looked _at him. Walking forward to inspect the elevator, he mused aloud, "Maybe he climbed up through the emergency hatch…"

Nagi, Omi and Farf crowded around the elevator trying to see where the person disappeared to, each offering up his own explanations. Turning to Farf, Schu had to ask, "Why would God make him disappear?"

Ignoring the Psycho's explanation, Ran frowned at the situation. There is always an explanation, and for the most part a logical one… For all they knew, this person who was dumb enough to confront Schwarz in their own home was smart enough to get off on a different floor and find another way down…

Hearing a tapping sound, Ran and the rest of the assassins occupying the lobby of the apartment looked around for the source of the sound. Turning around, they all saw Rayne rapping on the glass windows with his knuckles.

Grinning when he saw all their eyes on him, the little thief waved at them smiling. Amused at this turn of events, Ran watched the thief's antics. Why go to all the trouble to get away to just draw Schwarz's attention back to himself?

The thief pointed at himself, and posed, flashing the V for Victory sign. Then pointing to the members of Schwarz and the two members of Weiss, the thief pulled down on both sides of his mouth. Crossing his eye, he stuck his tongue out at them and started wagging it.

Lips twitching in amusement, Ran turned to Schuldig when his heard his exclamation of fury. Schuldig was being held back by Nagi's telekinesis, and was yelling and screaming his revenge and all the things that he was going to do to that brat.

Looking at Crawford and then Omi, he nodded his head. Omi nodded in response, and Crawford smirked. Counting to three in his head, on three they all went after the thief.

Seeing the two men and one kid run towards him, Rayne laughed softly. "Idiots."

Letting himself out of the main doors, he closed them as his pursuers reached the first set of doors. Closing the outside doors, Rayne placed a black bead from his belt onto the seam of the two glass doors. Pressing it in with his thumb, the bead cracked and was pressed in between the two doors, and then spread up and down, sealing the two doors together.

Turning his back to the doors, Rayne began humming as he hopped down the steps of the building. And when he heard the banging and pounding on the doors, Rayne's smile widened. Turning around to watch Berserker of Schwarz pound himself against the doors, trying to break the glass, Rayne smirked at them. Brining his fingers up to his lips, he blew them a kiss and turned around, and walked away waving over his shoulder.

0000000000

That same night, the members of Schwarz and Weiss were milling about in the basement of the Koneko no Sumu-Ie. The sounds of high heels clacking down the metal steps alerted them to Manx's arrival. Glancing at Schwarz with a slight frown marring her features, she walked past them towards Weiss and handed a card to Omi.

Holding the card up, Omi looked at it and asked, "What is this?"

Looking at the youngest member of Weiss, she replied, "That is a business card."

Floating the card to himself with his telekinesis, Nagi read it. "Relic Hunter?"

Ignoring the Prodigy of Schwarz, Manx turned towards the members of Weiss. "You will be working with this Relic Hunter on your next mission."

Omi frowned thoughtfully and then looked up at Manx. "Why would be need a Relic Hunter?"

"Because on this next mission you will need to stop an evil organization from destroying the world." Manx replied, shooting a look at Schwarz.

Schuldig rolled his eyes at her, "We weren't trying to destroy the world, but to people like you it just looked that way."

"Hn. Why do we need his help?" All eyes turned to Aya.

"Because you need him to recover the artifact before the organization does."

"Why don't you just destroy the organization? Deny the dark beasts their tomorrows…"

Manx frowned at Schuldig. "Unfortunately, we cannot do that."

Schuldig smirked, "Why not?"

Manx huffed and rolled her eyes in annoyance, "Because we do not know who they are…"

Schuldig laughed, "So, how're you going to stop an organization when you don't even know who they are?"

Before Manx could do bodily damage to Schuldig, Omi diverted her attention, "Manx-san, how are we supposed to stop the target when we don't know who it is?"

Smiling at the youngest Weiss member, she began her tale. "Not too long ago, several of our agents discovered the pieces of a broken tablet, written in an unknown language. When the pieces were brought together, the tablet fused into one whole piece and a strange light surrounded it; and the tablet was translated."

"Wow. Which language was it translated into?"

Manx looked to Siberian, "All of them."

A surprised look flittered across Ken's face, "How is that possible?"

Manx shook her head, "I do not know. All I do know is that World's End will be brought about, unless it is stopped by s Shining Light who is not entirely human, but not entirely not."

Schuldig raised his eyebrows, "Ohhhh! A prophecy! Gotta love how cryptic it is… Maybe that Shining Light is a flashlight!"

"Schuldig." Crawford said in a warning tone.

"Oh, come _on_ Brad! This is ridiculous!"

"A ridiculous threat is still a threat."

Schuldig looked down at Nagi. Rolling his eyes, "Oh, sure. Side with your boyfriend."

Man looked confused, "Prodigy is _involved_ with Oracle."

Schuldig's lips twitched in amusement, but before he could say anything Omi shot him a glare. "Manx, do you have any other information that you can give us?"

"Yes, but I would rather explain it only once. You will get the rest of the tomorrow when you meet with the Relic Hunter. Everything will be presented then."

That being said, Manx nodded her head at the members of Weiss and left.

After a few moments of silence, Schuldig said to nobody in particular. "This sounds like a snipe hunt to me."

Looking at Schuldig, Omi just had to ask. "What's a snipe?"


End file.
